Two is Better Than One
by JT1313
Summary: Jim Kirk is Captain of the Enterprise. Jamie Kirk is on her way to getting her own ship. Jim and Jamie both love Spock. It's a good thing that there are two Spocks! K/S Slow Build GirlJim slightly OC... meant to be more like TOS Jim but not quite /Spock Prime Slow Build Commence Test Run!
1. Part One

**AN: **"Part One" is chapters one, two, and three edited and re-posted. Sorry about that. Hopefully I was able to fix a few things. :3

* * *

Jim Kirk bounced in the captain's chair excitedly, glancing once again at his communications officer.

"Nothing yet captain," Uhura said for the twentieth time that shift.

"Captain, may I inquire as to whom we are waiting for?" Jim's XO asked.

"Spock, if you don't know then I won't tell you. It'll be a surprise," Jim said grinning as the science officer's eyebrow shot up to his hairline.

"Captain, incoming call," Uhura said excitedly, "she's ready to beam up."

"Tell Mr. Scott that I'll meet him down in the transporter room shortly. Spock and Uhura, you come with me. Sulu you have the conn," Jim said, practically leaping out of his chair and dashing to the turbo lift. Spock and Uhura followed their captain.

"Captain, may I inquire as to why Uhura will be joining us in the transporter room?" Spock asked Jim while looking Uhura.

Jim smiled at Spock's girlfriend before looking at Spock. "Let's just say that our guest and Uhura know each other, and I couldn't deprive our guest of her presence when she beams up," Kirk said cryptically.

They finally made it to the transporter room where Bones and Scotty are waiting.

"Bones, why are you here?" Jim asked, already knowing the answer.

"You know damn well that I've been excited to see my baby girl come aboard the Enterprise almost as much as you have," the doctor said.

Jim grinned and turned to Scotty, "Energize."

A girl with short, dirty blonde hair appeared on the transporter pad. She was dressed in a white t-shirt and leather jacket and wore ripped jeans and combat boots. Aviators covered her eyes. She beamed and removed her glasses, revealing dark brown eyes and long lashes.

As she stepped off the transporter pad Jim stepped toward her and they reverently touched hands, pressing their palms together and gazing deeply into each other's eyes. They stood like that for a few minutes. Every once in a while the mysterious women would purr or Jim would giggle, (yes giggle!), or she would wince and he would tense.

Bones coughed and the woman turned and noticed the doctor before bounding across the room and into his arms.

"Bones!" She cried happily, nuzzling her face into the doctor's neck.

"Haven't been getting into too much trouble I hope," Bones asked her.

"Who me?" The woman asked innocently, batting her eyelashes.

Spock and Uhura looked on, one's expression unreadable and the other's a slight smile.

"What can I expect? You are a Kirk!" Bones laughed.

"Is that an insult?" The woman teased.

"You are related to the captain?" Spock questioned. The woman spun, her eyes lighting on the Vulcan.

"Ah yes, Commander Spock," she said, addressing him. "I guess you could say that I am related to the captain."

Uhura laughed at this.

"And Uhura!" The woman gasped, looking the communications officer over before approaching her. "I really missed you," the woman breathed seductively. "I almost forgot how beautiful you are…almost," the woman smiled.

Uhura returned the smile, "So are you not going to hug me?"

The young woman's eyes sparkled. "I didn't want to do anything that you didn't want," the woman said shyly.

Uhura held her arms opened in response, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips. The young woman stepped into those arms, clinging tightly to Uhura, her hands barely rubbing small circles into Uhura's back, causing her skirt to hoist a centimeter.

Uhura seemed to return the woman's enthusiasm, clinging to the leather jacket with one hand and carding her fingers through the woman's short hair with the other.

"Jamie Tiberia Kirk!" Jim said loudly, glaring at the young woman.

The young woman pulled away abruptly, walking over to Jim. She put her hand in his and turned back to the rest of the people in the room. Scotty must have snuck out at some point to get back to his beloved engine room because he was now nowhere to be seen.

"I must apologize for my atrocious behavior," Jamie said to Uhura. Jamie's behavior had changed as well. She stood stiff and straight, and there was a more serious edge to her voice.

"There is no need to apologize Jamie," Uhura smiled.

"Thank you," Jamie smiled sweetly.

"I have to get back to Med Bay," McCoy said, reluctant to leave.

"Will you join Jim and me for supper in our quarters at 1800?" Jamie asked.

"I'd love to baby girl," Bones said happily, leaving the room.

"Captain, it would be logical for someone to show Jamie to her quarters and for us to return to the bridge to complete our shift," Spock announced.

"Uhura, why don't you show Jamie to her quarters and then meet us on the bridge when you're through?" Jim suggested.

"Yes captain," Uhura said, taking Jamie by the arm and leading her out of the transporter room.

* * *

"How are you related to Jamie?" Spock inquired as Jim and he walked out of the transporter room and made their way to the nearest turbo lift.

"It's complicated. We aren't related exactly…it's more like she is another version of me," Jim explained.

"Please clarify," Spock said, confused.

"When I was approximately two months old Jamie was born. It wasn't a birth in the way that we would imagine it; Jamie didn't come from my mother or from any other creature. My mom and I were on an alien planet, my mother wasn't on Earth very often or for very long but she took me with her on this trip, and I ended up triggering some strange relic on the planet and Jamie appeared. The relic or being or whatever it was explained that Jamie was an alternate form of myself and that she had to exist in this universe in order to balance it for a certain amount of time. So there she was, the same age as me. My mother told all of this to us on Jamie's twelfth birthday. It was irreversible. Not that I regret it. Best thing that ever happened to me," Jim explained.

Spock looked at Jim skeptically, (for a Vulcan anyway).

"It's true! When we were babies, it was like we were the same person. We looked identical, besides the fact that I'm male and Jamie is female, oh, and the color of our eyes. We acted the exact same way, if one of us cried the other did too. As we grew older we began to realize that we were actually communicating with our minds," Jim said.

Spock said nothing so Jim continued.

"We used to be able to experience exactly what the other was experiencing as it was happening no matter how far apart we were. We never liked to be apart though, and we could always be found together. We can still experience each other's emotions, and sometimes we can experience important moments, good or bad, even if we're apart. It's easier the closer we are, and we can easily access the link between our minds with physical contact, especially in the hands," Jim said.

"Fascinating," Spock replied.

Jim and Spock stepped onto the bridge, and the conversation ended.

* * *

"So, does this mean that you'll finally tell me your first name?" Jamie winked at Uhura.

"That's for me to know and for you to dream about," Uhura answered.

"If you're giving me permission to dream about you don't bother, I already took the liberty," Jamie winked.

Uhura just rolled her eyes happily and they continued to deck five.

"You were informed that Jim and I would share a room?" Jamie asked.

"I just know you Jamie. You are the girl that flirted with me throughout our training at the academy. How you managed to find or come up with a new pick up line every single day amazes me," Uhura explained.

"I flirted with everyone. I can't help it, it's who I am," Jamie pouts.

"Believe me I know. I knew you weren't serious after that fight you were in…," Uhura said. Jamie winced.

"So… you and Spock are a thing?" Jamie asked, trying to change the subject.

Uhura's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "We have been together three months now," Uhura answered.

"That's a shame. We could've been great you know," Jamie said wistfully.

"Will you meet me in my quarters at 2000 hours?" Uhura asked.

"I look forward to it," Jamie smiled, brushing her fingertips across the back of Uhura's hand.

Uhura turned and walked away, leaving Jamie punching in the code to Jim's quarters.

Uhura walked onto the bridge. Jim turned in his chair to look at her.

"Is there something I can do for you captain?" Uhura asked.

Jim grinned at her, "Nothing lieutenant, I'm just happy that you and Jamie seem to be getting along..."

"Yes captain," Uhura smiled before turning back to her console.

* * *

Jim practically pranced to the turbo lift when his shift was over. Spock joined him, both of them heading for deck five.

"Captain, you mentioned that you and Jamie are the same age, and I recall Uhura mentioning something that would imply that Jamie attended Starfleet Academy," Spock stated.

"Yeah, and your point is?" Jim asked.

"Jamie cannot possible be still attending the academy?" Spock questioned.

"When the distress call from Vulcan came," Jim began, watching Spock's expression carefully when mentioning the now-destroyed planet that was once Spock's home, "Jamie wasn't allowed to leave the academy grounds, let alone get assigned to a ship. She didn't even get to come to the hanger, so Bones couldn't sneak her on with me. She was still in trouble for attacking some other students that had been pretty mean to her. She wasn't allowed to graduate early with us. Pike was pissed about that. She's almost done though, and Pike has told me some rumors that she might be getting her own ship," Jim answered.

"Does she have the same reputation for engaging in bar fights and having multiple sexual partners that you do?" Spock asked.

"Hey!" Jim said, mock-glaring at Spock. The turbo lift doors opened and Jim and Spock walked down the corridor together, Spock matching Jim's stride perfectly.

"Well she did get into some trouble for fighting at the academy," Jim admitted.

They were stopped in front of Jim's quarters. "Why don't you come in? You could ask her some questions about all of this if you want," Jim offered, punching in the access code to the room.

Spock and Jim stepped inside when the doors swished open.

"All the…small things…true care…truth brings. I'll take…one lift. You're ride…best trip," Jamie sang along loudly, dancing around the room in her white tee and black undies, wielding a hairbrush as a microphone.

"Shit Jim, this is why you knock!" Jamie said when she turned around and saw an exasperated Jim and certain stoic Vulcan first officer standing in the doorway staring.

"This is why you don't dance around in your underwear at this time in the day," Jim said in response. "Computer, turn music off." The music in the background shut off.

"I'm just going to put some pants on then," Jamie said, unphased. She disappeared behind the divider that led to Jim's "bedroom".

Spock and Jim moved further into the room to sit on the couch.

"Sorry about that Spock…" Jim trailed off.

"Apologies are illogical captain," Spock said evenly.

"I suppose dancing around the room in your underwear pretending to be a rock star is pretty illogical too huh?" Jamie laughed, coming out in black sweatpants. She saw Spock start to open his mouth to answer her question, "Don't answer that! It was rhetorical."

"Spock and I were talking about our…situation", Jim said, changing the subject.

Jamie sat down in the chair across from them. "We do have a lot in common, but we are also different people," she explained, "I'm afraid that someday, we won't be able to hear each other's thoughts anymore."

"The rate at which we've been 'growing apart' has slowed significantly since our childhood however," Jamie said hopefully.

"Indeed?" Spock said.

"We've been pretty much at this level of… telepathic ability… ever since I turned eighteen," Jamie estimated.

"Fascinating," Spock said.

"Bones doesn't think it's fascinating. It scared the shit out of him when he first found out. He insisted on doing numerous scans and stabbing us in the neck with all sorts of hypos. Evil Bastard," Jim commented.

Jamie rubbed her neck remembering all of the hypos that Bones had administered since they knew each other.

"The Captain told me that you are close to completing your training at the Academy," Spock questioned.

"Yeah, it's pretty much bullshit that I didn't get to graduate early with everyone else but I'm almost there," Jim said determinedly.

"For what reason are you aboard the Enterprise then if you are still in classes?"

"Well I can't say anything right now, but it has to do with the mission you guys will be getting. There will probably be an official order from Starfleet about what that is by tomorrow. Until then I can't really say much. Even if I could say anything, I don't even know all the details," Jamie explained.

"Well I hope you don't think that I'm being exceptionally rude or something, but I'm going to jump in the sonic," Jamie said to Spock.

"Of course not, I have work to attend to that requires my attention so I will take my leave," Spock said, also standing. "Though I do not recommend jumping into the sonic, you are liable to slip and harm yourself."

Jamie laughed, "I'll keep that in mind."

Spock inclined his head in affirmation and exited the Captain's quarters.

"So that's the guy who dumped you on a freezing ice planet swarming with deadly creatures that tried to make you into dinner and then proceeded to choke you out when you survived. Charming," Jamie said, and with that she turned and waltzed into the bathroom that the Captain and the First Officer both shared.

Jim smirked and cleared his work desk so that they could use it to eat their dinner on that evening.

* * *

Jamie walked back in the room after her sonic in nothing but a towel. This was of no concern to Jim, who had seen her naked too many times to count and was used to it by now but Bones choked a bit on his brandy when he looked up and saw her.

Jamie just grinned at the grumpy doctor. "I thought dinner wasn't supposed to be until 1800?"

"Dammit kid it is 1800! Put some damn clothes on and sit down," Bones gruffed.

"Really it's 1800 already? Where did the time fly? And it's not like you haven't seen every inch of my naked body before; you are my primary physician if you don't remember. Plus you're my gynecologist so I don't see how any of this is a mystery to you," Jamie gestured to her nude body as she let the towel fall to the floor, having found the outfit that she wanted to wear.

Bones's face turned as red as a tomato and he decided that at that moment the most interesting thing was the ceiling and he would stare at it dammit!

Jim snickered and took Bones's empty glass from him.

"Well now that Jamie's finally here we can eat some actual food and quit sitting around drinking," Jim said.

"Since when do you like to sit down and eat a full meal? And we've only had one drink Jim," Bones pointed out.

"Don't worry Bones, I'll make Jim eat," Jamie kissed McCoy on the cheek, sitting next to him at the table, fully clothed.

"You didn't have to go and get all gussied up for me," Bones indicated the sparkling gold tank-top and black jeans that Jamie had decided to wear.

"Uhura invited me to her quarters tonight," Jamie explained wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Be careful kid, I don't want that pointy-eared bastard strangling you too," Bones said gruffly.

"Ah Bones you do care! And I would never actually try to go for someone who is already in a relationship, you know that."

"Sure kid, but I know you. You flirt unintentionally."

"Are you jealous Bones?" Jamie said, stroking Bones's arm.

"See what I mean? Jim behaves like a ninety-year-old nun compared to you!"

Jim placed platefuls of food in front of Jamie and Leonard.

"Eat," he commanded, sitting down with them.

"Thanks babe!" Jamie said, digging in.

"No problem sweetie," Jim said, playing along.

Bones just muttered and began eating.

* * *

"I'll see you later!" Jamie kissed Jim and McCoy on their cheeks before prancing out the door.

"You have your hands full kid," Bones warned Jim.

"You've got me all alone in my room now Bones so what should we do?" Jim asked, giving the doctor a sultry look.

"Aw gee, guess who has a shift bright and early in sickbay? Gotta go kiddo," Bones excuses himself, leaving a laughing Jim sitting on the sofa.

* * *

Jamie stood outside the door to Uhura's quarters, pausing for a fraction of a second before steeling herself and hitting the button to alert Uhura to her presence.

"Enter," a voice from inside called.

The doors swooshed open and Jamie strode in.

"I know you already had dinner but I thought we could share a dessert?" Uhura looked up from where she was sitting at a table, on which sat a tray of cream puffs and next to them a bowl of custard and another bowl of whipped cream. But the most enticing part of the ensemble was the chocolate and strawberries that were sitting nearby a candle set in the middle of the table.

"Um, wow," Jamie stood in the doorway in surprise.

"Please, come sit down," Uhura gestured to the empty chair across from where she was sitting.

Jamie walked across the room and sat.

"You look lovely," Jamie said, noticing that Uhura wore a shimmery black dress and had her hair arranged in a simple yet fashionable bun on her head.

"Thank you," Uhura smiled, "As do you."

"So what's all this about?" Jamie asked, reaching for a cream puff. It didn't really matter the reasoning behind it, free food was free food to Jamie. And the food was looking good.

"I was actually hoping that maybe you could forgive me for the whole incident back at the academy. I had no idea that Finnegan would do what he did to you, and I am sorry," Uhura pleaded.

"So that's what's been up with you, why you've been acting so nice to me," Jamie said, spreading custard inside her cream puff. "And so all of this", Jamie gestured with her spreading knife, "is your way of apologizing to me."

"Finnegan tormented me far more than you know; he was my own personal devil. What you did only gave him another thing to use against me. I can forgive you for that. What I'm not ready to forgive you for however, is for helping to destroy my relationship with Ruth. She was the only person I've ever considered being with; my first real relationship. You, Finnegan, and Korey ruined that for me," Jamie said, her tone accusing.

"I know. And you know that I didn't mean for that to happen, I was just jealous. I was jealous that you were always better than me, did better than I did in every class; that you could get away with anything. And maybe I was jealous when you started seeing Ruth too. It's not like I had feelings for you, because I didn't, and I don't. It was just that all of a sudden all of the focus and attention that you had centered on me turned to someone else, and you were so happy. I can't tell you enough that I'm sorry I just hope that I can fix things between us, because I don't want to be your enemy," Uhura let out.

Jamie had now finished piling whipped cream and chocolate on top of her cream puff and decorated it with a strawberry before cramming a large bite into her mouth. She took a moment to chew agonizingly slowly, letting Uhura's words linger in the silence that now encompassed the room. It seemed that the universe was holding its breath, waiting for the verdict.

"Well," Jamie began, wiping her mouth with a napkin, "how can I say no to your pretty face? I forgive you."

Uhura let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"It definitely helps that these cream puffs are so fucking delicious," Jamie commented, lightening the mood.

The rest of the evening was spent with Jamie cramming cream puffs into her mouth, (and savoring the strawberries because Jim was allergic to them and she so wasn't), and Uhura eating and watching in mild amusement and slight disgust. (How can a girl so skinny eat so many cream puffs?)

* * *

"Jimmy I'm home," Jamie said, walking through the doorway and removing her shoes.

"So?" Jim asked, slightly worried. He felt relief however when Jamie looked up and she was smiling.

"Why don't I just show you?" She asked, crossing the room to stand in front of him, extending her hand. He took it and they stood in the middle of the room pressing their hands together, sharing the memory of Uhura's unexpected apology.

"Well that was….nice of her I think…" Jim said, "And I'm sure she was mostly jealous just because you were the treasurer of Starfleet Academy's Xenolinguistics Club and she was only the vice president of Starfleet Academy's Chorale Ensemble when I know she wanted to be both."

"Uh-huh. I'm tired," Jamie yawned, pulling off her shirt before unbuttoning her pants.

"Woman you kill me," Jim joked, leading her into the bedroom where he too undressed.

Jamie rummaged around in the drawer that Jim had lent to her until she found what she was looking for. It was one of Jim's old shirts that she had claimed that read: I survived the Zombie Apocalypse and all I got was this bloody shirt. It had fake blood stains on it and the shirt was a light blue color. She tugged it on and turned to Jim who was already lying in bed since all he usually wore to sleep were his boxers.

"I can't believe you still have that shirt," Jim chuckled. Jamie just shrugged, grabbing her toothbrush and toothpaste and heading for the bathroom. She checked to make sure it was unoccupied before padding in barefoot, in her zombie shirt and black panties.

And obviously when one is standing in front of the mirror, armed with a toothbrush and wearing a zombie shirt that acts like a short dress, one finds the need to practice one's sexiest dance moves and sing very quietly, white toothpaste dribbling out of one's mouth.

And when one forgets to lock the bathroom door, and is focused intently on one's reflection one doesn't notice a certain pointy-eared Vulcan standing in the doorway until one does a turn and yelps in shock, landing on the cold bathroom floor.

Jamie starts laughing, grabbing the counter and pulling herself to her feet.

"Do you often behave so illogically?" Spock asks, slight disdain coloring his otherwise monotone voice.

Jamie spits into the sink and wipes her mouth before turning back to Spock. "Do you often behave like you have something shoved up your,"

"What's going on in here?" Jim asks, walking in in nothing but his boxers.

"Captain I,"

"I forgot to lock the doors and Spock frightened me that's all," Jamie said, smiling sweetly.

"Well come to bed okay?" Jim tugs on her arm lightly.

"Yeah, yeah; I'm coming. Hold your horses," She says and Jim leaves.

Jamie notices the slightest green color to the tips of Spock's ears and the lightest green dusting on his face. He was blushing? Was it the dialogue that had just transpired or something else? Jim's ass did look mouth-wateringly sexy in his underwear she had to admit.

"There are no horses that I am aware of aboard this starship, nor can I ascertain for what purpose the Captain would hold them for," Spock said.

The thought that Spock might find Jim sexy caused a sly grin to spread across her face; she was completely ignoring his earlier comment.

"Goodnight Spock," she exited the bathroom without waiting for a response, still grinning like a Cheshire-cat over her own musings.

"Why do you have that look on your face?" Jim asked warily as Jamie crawled into bed.

"Just thinking of your sexy ass," she purred. Jim huffed happily. "And a certain pointy-eared officer being turned on by your sexy ass."

"What?"

"Nothing; goodnight," Jamie cuddled into Jim's chest and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

The alarm went off, signaling that it was time for Jim to wake up so that he could be ready for Alpha shift. "Computer, turn alarm off," Jim said, rolling over into his pillow. He reached out for Jamie but didn't feel her. He sat up and looked around; Jamie was not in the bedroom at all. Huh, she must have woken up early.

Jim pulled black pants, a black undershirt, and a gold shirt out of his closet. He ran his hands over the gold command shirt, caressing the fabric. He was still in awe that he was actually Captain of this amazingly beautiful ship.

He dressed and walked into the living area of his quarters. Jamie wasn't here either. Maybe she was already down in the mess hall for breakfast?

Nothing could have prepared Jim for the horror that awaited him in the mess hall. Really, he should have seen it coming since Jamie practically was him, but he was almost as unpredictable to himself at times as he was to others. Jim really should have taken into account that Jamie was still in the academy; hence she still behaved the way he would if he were still only a cadet and didn't have the responsibilities of a Starfleet Captain.

She sat in the midst of practically the entire bridge crew, (Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, plus Scotty), arms gesturing widely as she recounted some story that had everyone at the table absolutely riveted on her.

"And that's when this huge red monster thing crashed in out of nowhere; BAM! And Jim took one look at the thing and he was running like his ass was on fire, I swear to you! So this monster completely ignores the ugly wolf bitch of doom and takes off after him, and this monster is bigger than a fucking elephant. So Jim's running and as his luck would have it the next thing he knows he's tumbling down this huge ice and snow hill and the red monster thing, I have no idea what to call that thing it was so fucked up, well the thing falls right behind him, and ice chunks are being broken off and coming right down with them. When Jim hits the bottom he turns and sees this thing is still coming after him and he starts running across some pretty thick ice and he makes it to a cave, but the monster bursts in right behind him and snags his leg with its nasty tongue and starts dragging him into its huge mouth. Seriously, this thing opened its maw and it had probably a thousand teeth and it looked ready just to clamp down on Jim and suck him right down its throat. So Jim's thrashing and the monster is pulling him closer and closer," as Jamie says this she starts leaning in closer and closer to Chekov, practically whispering as she says, "and cloooooooser. And then," she's right next to Chekov's ear now, and the kid is sitting rigid yet attentive, staring straight ahead as she continues her story, "BAM!" Jamie grabs Chekov, who jumps as everyone at the table laughs at the cuteness that is the Russian Whiz Kid.

"And zen?" Chekov prods when Jamie sits back in her chair and makes it seem as if the story is over.

"And then the monster doesn't eat him, obviously. The end," Jamie smiles smugly as the table erupts in shouts of protest at the story's abrupt and unsatisfactory end.

"Were all the sound effects necessary?" Jim asks as he finally approaches the table.

"Oh yes, absolutely," Jamie smirks. "I could have told the one about you and those three Orions…" Jamie trails off teasingly.

"And if you did that then I wouldn't be able to deprive my crew of the story of what you did to Pike," Jim threatened.

"What did you do to Admiral Pike?" Sulu asked eagerly.

"I sleep walk, it's not my fault," Jamie pouted.

"You slept walked all the way across campus to Admiral Pike's quarters, while he was actually there, and you managed to hack the code to get into his room all while asleep? I'm you and even I don't believe it," Jim says.

Everyone immediately became interested in that story, of course. No one ever noticed a certain pointy-eared first officer sitting alone at a table nearby, having heard the entire conversation due to his excellent hearing, get up and leave at this point, making his way to the bridge to start his shift early as was usual for him. And if no one noticed that then no one could have noticed that he clenched his jaw ever so slightly, or carried himself just a tiny bit more formally and stiffly, signs that would indicate to anyone who knew Spock well enough that something had upset him. But of course no one would know what that something was since no one had noticed in the first place. Oh well.


	2. Part Two

**AN: **This Part is chapters four, five, and six edited and re-posted. :D

* * *

Jamie strolled down to sickbay after breakfast, admiring the beauty that was the Enterprise. Jamie was falling head over heels for the ship fast and hard. And so if she wandered a bit and took the long way to sickbay, well she had nothing better planned for that day anyways.

When she finally arrived in sickbay Bones wasn't anywhere in sight, and that was the reason she had come down here in the first place, wasn't it? So where could he be hiding? Jamie scanned the room, her eyes stopping on a blonde whose back was turned to her. Jamie observed the long legs and gorgeous ass of the woman before whistling low. The woman turned; scowling at Jamie. Jamie smiled and held her hands up in a gesture of 'don't shoot'.

The nurse's glare darkened as she recognized the woman who had whistled at her. Doctor McCoy had warned her that another Kirk was aboard the ship and not to underestimate her.

"I think someone just whistled at you. He might have run off that way," Jamie pointed, "should I chase after him and defend your honor?"

"I know who you are. Leonard warned me about you," the nurse said haughtily.

Jamie just smiled sheepishly, "That doesn't seem very fair. You know who I am and I haven't a clue who you are. Leonard hasn't once mentioned you."

The nurse looked offended. Jamie felt a bit bad about saying that last part…maybe she should be nicer to the woman. Jamie tried searching her memory banks for thename of the woman, maybe she could take it back if she could just remember her name…Jim's thoughts must have shared the information with her at some point.

Unfortunately, Jamie forgot most of the things that Jim shared with her, and she knew he forgot what she shared with him. Something like the name of a nurse seemed too inconsequential for Jamie to store in her long term memory, hell she didn't even bother memorizing the names of all of Jim's flings, and she knew for a fact he didn't either.

So while Jamie kept struggling to remember what the nurse's name was the nurse decided to just go ahead and introduce herself. Jamie's chance for redemption in the eyes of this hot blonde was blown in that moment. She'd have to think of another way to win her over and make amends.

"I'm Christine Chapel," the nurse said.

"You have a beautiful name Christine, I'm Jamie Kirk," Jamie proffered her hand as an act of surrender.

Christine eyed it for a moment, as if it would bite her, before taking the hand in a warm handshake.

"See, that wasn't too bad," Jamie said, reassuring herself as much as she was trying to reassure Christine.

"Stop terrorizing my head nurse," Bones said gruffly, walking into the sickbay.

"How dare you try and warn about things that probably aren't even true!" Jamie immediately rounded on the doctor.

"So it's not true that you flirt with every attractive woman you meet?"

"Are you saying that you think your head nurse is attractive?" Jamie said, turning things on Bones.

"Dammit that's not what I meant!"

"So you don't think that she's attractive?" Jamie was having fun with him now.

"You two do know that I'm still right here," Christine said rolling her eyes. She then strode out of the room.

"Look what you did now kid," Bones said watching her leave.

"Sorry Bones. I still love you?" Jamie made her pouty face at Leonard.

"Sure kid. So what exactly are you doing in my sickbay? Do I need to hypo you?" Bones walked over to a shelf and grabbed his scanner, returning to Jamie and checking her with it.

"Stop waving your magic doctor stick at me! I came down here to see you, or is that not a good enough reason for me to willingly come into a sickbay?"

"You have a slight fever," Bones muttered, pulling out a hypo and stabbing it suddenly into Jamie's neck.

"Ouch! Fuck you Bones, I'm fine!" Jamie rubbed at her neck.

"And it looks like you've been gaining weight too. I wish Jim would gain a few pounds; I could play on his ribs like a xylophone. I'm going to start you on a diet while you're on the ship," Bones continued.

"Fuck you Bones, I can tell when I'm not wanted. Stick me with your hypo of evil and then call me fat," Jamie harrumphed and stalked out of sickbay, leaving a chuckling Bones walking towards his office. He was serious about the diet thing, and he would make sure that all the replicators on the ship would only give Jamie foods that were on his list. It wasn't that she was fat either; hell she had a glorious body. But he wanted to keep her fit and healthy, she was his baby girl after all; well after Jo that is.

Jamie stalked down the halls muttering about Bones and his evil ways. How he could be the best doctor in the damn fleet and yet have the absolute worst bedside manner would be a constant aggravation to Jamie. He could at least try not to stab the whole damn hypo completely through her neck every time she needed a vaccination right? It was true that Jim had it worse though, half of the time he was hypoed he ended up having an allergic reaction and was then hypoed into oblivion by Bones when he tried to figure out how to stabilize Jim's system. Hell, it was like there was a tattoo on Jim's neck that read: Insert hypo here. Bones was made of evil.

* * *

The beauty of the stars flying past was interesting for all of about ten minutes. And then Jim became antsy. He fidgeted, looking around at the bridge crew quietly going about their duties. So boring! Jim glanced at Chekov, wondering what the kid was working on. The Russian Whiz Kid had to be working on something interesting right? He looked so focused, typing in numbers on his padd, solving equations. Jim didn't have the heart to interrupt the kid to ask what he was doing. Jim assumed it was important and moved on, glancing at Sulu next. Sulu didn't look quite as involved in his work as Chekov did. In fact, Sulu seemed more intently focused on Chekov himself. Yes, Sulu was working, but every minute or so Sulu would glance over at Chekov, stare for a moment, and then go back to his work. This was an interesting development. Sulu and Chekov huh? Jim probably should have seen it coming. Chekov did kind of hero-worship, and after the stunt Sulu pulled during the Narada incident where Sulu did some badass piloting and showed off his skills Chekov would probably hero-worship Sulu. The kid hero-worshiped Jim but more in a way like a kid who looks up to his totally badass older brother. And who wouldn't find Chekov absolutely adorable? Everyone obviously wanted to adopt the kid. He was just that cute.

Jim chuckled and his gaze moved to Uhura. Oh the beautiful and extremely scary Uhura. She was doing something to the wiring of her comm station to improve performance and make those tricky frequencies come in more clearly. She was such a talented communications officer, and a hot one at that. In fact, now that Jim thought about it, his entire bridge crew was pretty badass and extremely good looking. Huh.

Speaking of good looking and talented officers Jim's gaze finally moved to Spock. Spock was bent over his scanner, taking readings of god knows what, and Jim wasn't about to interrupt him to ask either. Spock's incredibly tight and sexy ass was directly in Jim's line of sight and Jim was not about to stop staring to ask what exactly had his Officer bent over so seductively in the first place. God, Jim could just imagine his first officer bent over exactly like that on the desk in his quarters, face flushed green while Jim fucked and holy shit what was Jim even thinking right now? Did he seriously just think about Spock in a sexual way? Fuck he was losing his mind.

"CAPTAIN!" Jim was startled out of his thoughts by his yeoman holding a padd in front of his face and yelling for his attention. Shit he was still staring at Spock, who had now turned to see what the commotion was all about. Jim blushed furiously as his eyes met Spock's and then he spun in his chair quickly to face the yeoman.

"Yeoman Rand, what can I do for you," Jim said, plastering on his fake grin and acting as if nothing was wrong.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past minute captain," she accused, "there are some forms you need to sign off on."

Jim noticed the stack of padds held in her arms. He sighed as she handed him the top one and a stylus. The next fifteen minutes was spent with him scanning over the documents and then quickly signing off on them. By the end of it, his name was looking like a bunch of squiggles; hell he wouldn't really even be able to recognize the jumbled mess as his name. Jim sighed over-dramatically as he finished with the last padd, signing his squiggles and rubbing his hand roughly to try and get it to stop cramping.

"It's stopped breathing; I'll have to perform CPR stat!" Jim feigned performing CPR on his hand and then looked up at the Yeoman with an expression of shock and sadness on his face, "We've lost it. Note the time and the date in your medical logs, we'll also have to notify the family."

The yeoman rolled her eyes and started to walk away, looking highly annoyed by her captain's childish antics.

"No wait! We have a pulse! It's alive!" Jim raised his hand high triumphantly and before he could continue with his childish act Uhura had to ruin the fun.

"Captain, would you cease your childish actions, I think you're scaring Chekov."

Jim looked over at the Russian Whiz Kid, who was staring at Jim with a mixed expression of amusement and one of: oh shit our captain has gone over the deep end.

Jim just smiled sheepishly and shrugged in Uhura's direction. He heard her huff a quick sigh before she got back to work, the rest of the crew following her lead. Jim hadn't realized that they'd all been staring at their captain with much the same expressions as Chekov had had. Well damn, maybe he should behave more seriously in front of his crew? Earn their respect and whatnot?

He decided he'd be serious when the time called for it but when the bridge was as boring as it was now he just wouldn't give a flying fuck. But he pulled out his padd and started writing up a report for Starfleet that needed to be done.

* * *

Eventually Jamie wound up in engineering.

She meandered around the equipment, admiring the Enterprise's "undercarriage" so to say. That is until Scotty found her anyway.

"What're ye doing in engineering lassie?" The Scotsman inquired, wiping his hands on a grease rag.

"I was just admiring how beautiful this ship is when I wound up here," Jamie answered honestly, still taking in the view that the room provided. To some it probably looked like a mess of machinery but to Jamie it was absolutely beautiful.

"Well now," Scotty spluttered, flattered from the compliment that Jamie had just given the Enterprise.

"Oh but you're busy, I'm sorry for bothering you," Jamie said, just now noticing how dirty the Chief Engineer was.

"I'm jus fine tuning 'er and adding some of my own improvements to make 'er run a wee bit smoother is all," Scotty said, clearly not bothered by the interruption. That is, he only looked _slightly_ anxious to get back to his engines.

"Can I lend a hand?" Jamie asked.

"I have the perfect job for ya," Scotty said, leading Jamie to where he was working. "Can I trust you with my nuts?"

Jamie laughed as he dropped six nuts into her hand, careful not to lose them because even though Scotty had some more the right size for the machine they would be working on, (she needed to reattach a charging device to a compartment on a cooling mechanism and it needed some weird sized nuts), he liked to always be in supply of extra so she had best take care not to lose these. She shimmied into a tight spot where Scotty wouldn't be able to fit without dismantling a larger part of the entire system which would require hours of extra labor and quickly went to work, Scotty passing her tools as she needed them, the nuts held securely in her pocket.

* * *

"Captain, I suggest you take this time to consume an evening meal, I do not believe you have eaten since last evening."

Jim startled out of his day dreaming and looked up at Spock. He then checked the time quickly on his padd. Alpha shift had been over for close to twenty minutes now. Well shit, it was so boring that he zoned out and had sat there an extra twenty minutes.

"That sounds like an excellent idea Mr. Spock," Jim said, realizing that he had been sitting there like a moron for about a minute while all of that had sunk in.

"Are you feeling well captain?" Spock raised an eyebrow at Jim.

Jim stood and they both walked to the turbo lift.

"I'm fine," Jim said, as they both stepped inside.

The doors slid shut to, "Fine has variable definitions; fine is not acceptable."

As Jim's brain exploded from the eyebrow of sexy that Spock was directing at him in such a small enclosed space, where it would be all too easy to shove him against the wall and assault his mouth and do all sorts of delightful things to his first officer, Spock waited for a reply. Receiving none, his eyebrow shot impossibly higher. Jim gaped back at Spock, swayed ever so slightly, and then fainted like a maiden wearing a corset in the hot summer sun.

Spock was only startled for half of a second, (and he would deny being startled with his usual response of "Vulcans don't become startled" to whoever accused him of being such), before he caught his Captain and hoisted him in his arms, bridal style.

So Spock _didn't_ worry as he _didn'_t rush to sickbay and his voice was _not_ in the least bit shaky when he called for McCoy, who led him to a bio bed that he set Jim on, (and if Spock was being overly gentle it was only because Vulcans were three times stronger than humans and he simply did not wish to accidentally harm his Captain further. And if Spock's touch lingered as he set Jim down, well he was only making sure that Jim would not fall off the bio bed of course).

"What happened?" McCoy asked, not wasting any time.

"Jim and I were headed to the mess hall when he collapsed in the turbo lift," Spock explained.

"He has merely fainted," the doctor said, finished running his medical scanners over Jim. "Has he eaten recently?"

"As far as I am aware the last meal that Jim consumed was dinner last night with you and Jamie," Spock answered.

"Dammit kid." Bones muttered to Jim. "Nurse Chapel, bring me something for this kid to throw up in," Bones ordered his Nurse who appeared behind him before going off to complete her task.

"He seems to be regaining consciousness doctor," Spock noticed.

"No shit Sherlock," Bones took the bucket that Nurse Chapel had come back with and put it next to Jim.

Jim blinked his eyes, looking around dazedly before turning on his side and puking into the bucket that Bones held there for him.

Spock helped by holding Jim's shoulders and head up so that he wouldn't puke all over himself.

When Jim had finished, Leonard gave the bucket back to Nurse Chapel, who took it without a word.

"Shit Bones, what happened?" Jim slurred.

"You are a fucking moron, that's what happened," Bones began his tirade.

Jim lay on the bio bed as Bones ranted on and on about eating right and not skipping meals and Jim being a dumbass in general. Jim didn't try to escape during the rant even once, too embarrassed from fainting in front of Spock, who then had to "carry his dumb ass all the way down to sickbay, which probably wasn't too difficult since he's too light from not eating", (according to Bones), and then throwing up all over the place, (even though what little Jim still had left in him made it into the bucket).

"I'm really sorry Bones, I forgot to eat. Spock and I were on our way to get dinner, I wasn't trying to skip out on meals," Jim pleaded, using his best pout.

"Fine. But you will eat here tonight and I will watch you put every forkful into your mouth and you will swallow every bite, is that understood?" Bones threatened.

"Yes sir!" Jim gave a mock salute.

"Now that the Captain seems to be feeling better I will take my leave," Spock announced.

"Alright; I'll just see you later or whatever," Jim muttered as Spock exited the sickbay, leaving him to a cranky doctor.

* * *

Jamie was walking back to her and Jim's quarters to take a quick sonic when she ran into Spock right in front of Jim's quarters. Literally.

Jamie sat on the floor stunned while Spock quickly disentangled their bodies and stood.

"I am so sorry Spock. I wasn't really paying much attention to where I was walking."

"Apologies are illogical. However, I will advise you to be more aware of your surroundings," Spock said, taking in the dirty woman sitting on the floor. She was covered in grease. It was on her clothes, on her skin, on her face, and even in her hair. "May I inquire as to why you appear to be covered in grease?"

Jamie stood, white teeth flashing in a smile as she said, "I was in engineering with Scotty."

"Indeed?" Spock raised an eyebrow at her statement.

"Indeed," Jamie's smile widened. Spock started past her, on his way to his own quarters. "Oh, and just so you know: that eyebrow raise that you do is damn sexy. Be careful, a girl like me is liable to swoon at such a sight," Jamie laughed as she teased the Vulcan, disappearing into Jim's quarters before Spock could even respond properly.

Said Vulcan walked into his quarters, blushing slightly at the teasing words. His thoughts went directly to earlier in a certain turbo lift.

"Jim, Jim, Jim," Jamie said as she strode into sickbay. "What are the odds of me finding you here?"

"I'm sure the green blooded hobgoblin could give you an exact number," McCoy grumped as he watched Jim eating his supper.

"You're having supper without me? I'm wounded," Jamie clutched at her heart dramatically.

"Does this look enjoyable to you?" Jim gestured at himself. He was sitting, propped up in a bio bed with a plate of food on his lap. Bones was sitting next to him with an assortment of hypos in preparation should Jim decide not to eat every last bite on his plate or to try and escape the sickbay.

"You know how much of a masochist I am. I would get off on this kind of thing," Jamie winked, teasing Bones now.

"That can be arranged," an evil glint appeared in McCoy's eyes at the thought.

And that is how Jamie ended up in a bio bed next to Jim, eating a healthy salad and drinking a tall glass of water. And no matter how many times Jamie protested with, "I am not a rabbit!" Bones would not let her leave until she finished it all.

Bones could just be evil like that.

* * *

James Tiberius Kirk walked onto the bridge of the Enterprise, pausing before sitting in the Captain's chair; glancing at the skilled officers doing their jobs. He grinned in a cocky sort of way before he sat in the large chair, crossing his legs and picking up the coffee cup that a Yeoman had recently set down for him. He would not be able to function properly without his coffee in the morning. The day promised to be uneventful; the Enterprise was stuck doing milk runs until who knew when. Of course, Jamie had mentioned a new mission assignment but she said that the Admiralty would have contacted them yesterday… Jim was not looking forward to another boring day on the bridge.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jamie had found the Enterprise's fitness and training room. It was a surprisingly spacious room, larger than any of the rec rooms, and it offered an assortment of training equipment and sparring weapons. Jamie walked directly over to the treadmills, choosing one and stepping on it. She put down the padd she had brought with her, plugging in her earphones and turning on some music before she set the treadmill to an easy starting pace. As she lost herself to the feel of the burn of her muscles, and the squeezing of her lungs, and the music pulsing in her ears, she continued to increase the pace as much as possible. She loved exercise. Jim did too.

An hour later Jamie stepped off the treadmill; her blonde hair damp with sweat. She was definitely going to take a sonic right away. That is, until she spotted Gary Mitchell working out in a corner of the training room.

"Hey Gare-bear what's up?" Jamie asked, walking over to the man.

"Well if it isn't little Jamie Kirk. What are you doing here? I thought you were still finishing up at the Academy?" Gary smiled when he saw his old friend.

"Just visiting. And yes, I'm still 'finishing up at the Academy'. Big deal. I didn't know you were assigned to the Enterprise, I thought they offered you a better spot on the new Farragut?"

"They did, but I couldn't turn down the Enterprise. Especially if it meant serving under Jim," Gary winked.

"I see. Hey, we'll have to get dinner or something together; catch up and stuff. I can't stick around right now, there's a sonic with my name on it," Jamie said.

"Sound's great. I'll see you later then!" As Gary went back to his work-out, Jamie walked out of the training room. She walked all the way back to her and Jim's quarters to take a sonic, she hadn't brought clean clothes to wear after showering in the locker rooms off the training room and she didn't want to put on her sweaty black shorts and red tank top again after getting cleaned up.

Jamie stripped in the shared bathroom between Jim and Spock's quarters, leaving her dirty clothes lying haphazardly on the tiled floor.

* * *

"Captain, incoming message from Starfleet," Uhura announced, swiveling in her chair to face Jim.

"I'll take it in my ready room Lieutenant, thank you," Kirk said, rising from his chair. "Spock, you're with me. Sulu, you have the conn."

Spock rose from his station and he and Sulu both acknowledged Kirk's orders with a crisp "aye sir".

Once Kirk had sat in front of the monitor and Spock was standing behind him in a formation of solidarity and support, Kirk opened the comm link to see Admiral Barnett himself on the screen.

"Captain Kirk, Commander Spock," The admiral acknowledged the officers with a formal, yet impatient air.

"Admiral Barnett," Kirk responded.

"Starfleet has orders for its flagship. You are to rendezvous with an ambassador here on earth, and he will accompany you and the Vulcan High Council along with twenty other members of the Vulcan race to the planet that is the prospective New Vulcan to determine if it is an acceptable planet on which to establish the remaining Vulcan population. You will remain there for approximately two months, assisting in any way that you can. That will include taking and recording data about the planet, which you will be sending back to Starfleet in detailed weekly reports, carting supplies on your journey to the planet, assisting with establishing temporary living and working facilities, and mainly showing Starfleet's support to the Vulcan race in the aftermath of the Nero incident. Any questions?"

"Several," Kirk began, somewhat surprising Barnett who had not expected to receive questions, even though he did ask if Kirk had any. Kirk continued to surprise him, as he surely did everyone. "One: Who is this ambassador that we are meeting and why is he in charge. Two: I kind of thought that New Vulcan had been approved as the new home planet of the Vulcan race, hence renaming it "New Vulcan". Three: Why is Jamie Kirk on this ship? She said she was here to assist with the mission in some way. Four: I was under the impression we would be receiving this mission yesterday. And finally, why is the Federation's newest and finest Flagship taking on a mission that is, in all honesty, better left to cargo ships and transport vessels?"

Barnett flared at the last question. "First of all Captain Kirk, you would do well to remember that it is your job to receive orders and carry them out, not defy your superiors by questioning the orders in such a way. To answer your questions, the ambassador is Ambassador Selek, and he is the one who suggested that the Vulcans consider the planet you are going to as their new home world. He will no doubt be a great asset to this mission. And New Vulcan is the best available option for a Vulcan home world; however, a few loose ends have to be tied up before it becomes official. And since you were not supposed to have even known that you would be receiving this mission until you received it I'm going to ignore the fact that you are questioning the Admiralty on the timing of the delivery of this mission. As for Jamie, she will be graduating from the Academy at the end of this mission and the Admiralty has decided to use this mission as a test for her to determine if she should be promoted directly to the rank of Captain as soon as she graduates. She will be acting captain on your vessel until the mission is complete; you shall provide assistance only when absolutely necessary. I am requesting that during this time, Commander Spock observe her and send a detailed report by the end of the mission regarding her skill or lack thereof that will allow us to determine her ability to Captain a ship such as the Enterprise. That is all." Barnett cut the transmission without further ado, leaving a gaping Kirk staring at the blank screen.

"Well fuck me," Kirk muttered. Spock raised an eyebrow at his Captain, having heard the comment, but he decided it would be better not to reply to it.

"Well I need to go and get my padd; I left it in my quarters. I have reports to finish before this new mission starts. And I suppose I should have Sulu lay in a course for Earth and have Chekov make an announcement to the crew about the upcoming mission."

"Captain, allow me to retrieve your padd. I would like to take the opportunity to send a message to my father to confirm something as well," Spock requested.

"Sure, go ahead," Kirk said. "I'll just go and brief the bridge crew then." And with that, he left.

Spock headed to his quarters to confirm a suspicion he had.

* * *

Jamie had always preferred showers to sonics, but showers were a waste of water and so she had to do without. Jamie was about to step out of the sonic when she heard a noise. She briefly thought about how she had forgotten to lock the doors to the bathroom before stepping into the sonic. She shook her head; Jim and Spock were both on Alpha shift right now and McCoy was on duty in sickbay. No one else could even get into Jim or Spock's quarters, (except maybe Scotty but he was definitely down in engineering), so her worries that someone might walk into the bathroom were baseless. She felt secure in her reasoning and stepped out of the sonic, naked as the day she was born. Just at that moment Spock walked through the door.

You've got to be fucking kidding me. Jamie thought, scrambling for a towel to cover herself with. It was already too late however. The damage had been done. Spock had seen her in all her naked glory.

"How many times are you going to catch me at awkward moments?" Jamie asked in complete exasperation.

"Do you require someone to show you how to lock the bathroom door," Spock asked, ignoring her earlier comment.

Damn, he looks pissed off. "I know how to lock the damn door, you are supposed to be on Alpha shift," Jamie accused.

"I came to retrieve Jim's padd. Since I first had to handle some matters in my own quarters, it seemed logical to use the bathroom in order to enter Jim's quarters," Spock retorted.

Jamie's cheeks flushed. "Okay, I'll be sure to lock the door from now on, are you happy?"

"I cannot be happy for Vulcans do not feel happiness and I am a Vulcan," Spock said in his monotone voice.

"Yeah yeah, I know. The whole: I'm a Vulcan so I don't have a heart. Maybe the wonderful Wizard of Oz can give you one. You'll have to go to the Emerald City to see him though," Jamie trailed off, daydreaming about Spock skipping down a yellow brick road with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion.

"Of course Vulcan's have hearts, it is located," Spock began.

"I didn't mean it literally," Jamie interjected. "Let me just go get the stupid padd," she muttered, entering Jim's quarters and coming out again moments later with a padd in her hand, her other hand still gripped the towel wrapped around her body.

Spock dipped his head in acknowledgement and left with the padd, choosing not to remark on Jamie's comment on padds being stupid. Illogical.

* * *

"Thank you Spock," Jim said, taking his padd from Spock when he returned to the bridge. Jim noticed that Spock looked kind of pissed off, in a Vulcan way of course. Jim was getting better at reading Spock's emotions, (which Spock would never admit to having).

"Is something wrong?" Jim asked, concerned.

"Nothing Captain."

"Does it have to do with the message that you sent to your father?" Jim persisted.

Spock looked even angrier at being asked that question in front of the crew, even though it looked as if none of them had been listening, (you never knew though, the people onboard the Enterprise could be a gossipy bunch).

Spock's look told Jim that it did have to do with the correspondence between Spock and his father, and Jim knew better than to question it further while on duty.

Jim turned to the view screen to watch the stars fly past, giving Spock the silent order that he was to return to his station.

In only eighteen hours they would be docking at Earth.

Jim grinned at the thought; it was better than doing milk runs after all.

* * *

The crew performed the necessary flight checks and docking routines as the Enterprise gracefully docked at a space port orbiting Earth. Jim grinned back at Jamie who was standing behind the Captain's chair on the bridge, a nervous bundle of energy. Soon she will be sitting in that very chair.

Jim hits a button on the arm of the chair that allows him to speak with Scotty in engineering. "Scotty here Captain," the Scotsman acknowledges the comm.

"Kirk here. Prepare the transporter room for the passengers to beam up. I'm on my way down; Kirk out." Kirk stands. "Spock, Uhura, you're with me. Jamie, you have the conn." The bridge crew are not surprised that Jamie is being given, (for the moment temporary), control of the bridge. They have been briefed on the essentials of what this mission will entail and they took the news with far better grace then Jim had. Jamie wouldn't be promoted to acting Captain until they left dock however.

Spock and Uhura rose and followed Jim into the turbo lift as Jamie took her place in the Captain's chair. This I could get used to. Jamie thought, crossing her legs and attentively supervising all of the duties of the bridge crew.

* * *

The Vulcans beamed up in groups of four, and Jim assigned various ensigns to show them to their quarters. All of the stuffy Vulcan civility was getting to Jim, who was a better soldier than a diplomat. But, he managed. He gave up on performing the Ta'al however; his hand just couldn't do that! So far the Ambassador and Spock's father, (who was also an Ambassador as Jim learned), had yet to beam up. Finally, the last group was ready to beam up. Surely Spock's father would be among this group, he was a member of the Vulcan High Council after all, Jim thought. Of course, he had seen Sarek when he was aboard the Enterprise after the destruction of Vulcan, (Jim fought down the urge to touch his throat at the memory of "the bridge incident"), but he was anxious to actually meet him.

Four figures appeared on the transporter pad as their molecules rearranged. Jim recognized Spock's father, standing beside him was a beautiful young Vulcan woman, a Vulcan man, and the familiar wrinkled face of Spock prime. Jim smiled warmly at the older man; it was an unexpected treat to have the warm and kind man aboard his ship, a ship that he probably knew all too well Jim mused.

"Ambassador Sarek," Jim acknowledged politely. He turned to the young man next, "and you must be the Ambassador that Starfleet appointed to assist in leading this mission."

To his surprise, Spock prime spoke. "Captain, I believe you are mistaken. I am the Ambassador that Starfleet has informed you of."

Oh. Well. Jim blushed in embarrassment. "I apologize," the Captain recovered.

"This is Stonn, a distinguished member of the Vulcan community," Spock prime continued, introducing the other members of the beam-up party. "And T'Pring," he gestured to the woman who looked like Vulcan royalty.

Jim inclined his head politely.

As Jim continued with the niceties of formal conversation Uhura noticed the way that Spock was standing, rigid and tense. His jaw was clenched slightly and his posture was so strict that he could have passed as a statue. And she also noticed that it had something to do with the party that had beamed aboard.

Did it have something to do with his father? Jim had mentioned something about Spock being upset with news that Spock had received from his father when they were on the bridge. Uhura couldn't miss what Jim had said. Her sensitive ears had definitely heard that little tidbit of info, not that she would say anything about it to anyone else of course.

Or perhaps it had something to do with the other members of the final beam-up party. Uhura moved her gaze to each one, trying to search for something that would tell her why Spock was so bothered. She looked at the older man, who looked remarkably like Spock. A relative perhaps? Her gaze moved to the young man. His posture was stiff, his face a mask of stoicism, all in all a perfect model of a Vulcan. And then there was the young woman. She was breathtaking, her dark hair piled high on her head, her eyebrows slanted into perfect lines on her flawless face.

What if this woman had something to do with it? What if Spock had had feelings for her? Jealousy flashed hot and sharp through Uhura. As quickly as she had had that thought she dismissed it. Spock had told her that she was the first girlfriend he had ever had. Uhura smiled at the thought.

"Spock, why don't you show your father to his room?" Jim's voice interrupted Uhura's thoughts.

Spock tensed further. "Yes Captain." He indicated for Sarek to follow him, stiffly leading the way out of the transporter room. Kirk motioned for an ensign to guide the man and the woman to their quarters as well, and then Kirk turned at last to Spock prime, grinning like a buffoon. "Ambassador…"

"Selek," Spock prime informed Kirk.

"Ambassador Selek. This is the Enterprise's communication's officer, Lieutenant Uhura."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Selek said. His lips quirked upward in a smile, as if he was laughing at his own joke.

"The pleasure is mine Ambassador," Uhura said politely, hiding her surprise that a Vulcan would smile so…openly.

"Shall I give you a tour of the Enterprise Ambassador?" Jim asked.

"It would be an honor. I am most interested in your ship Jim."

Uhura's mouth dropped open. This Ambassador was on a first-name basis with the Captain? Didn't they just meet?

"Let's start with the bridge, shall we?" Jim said, leading the way. Selek walked with Jim down the corridors, his stride perfectly matching Jim's. Uhura followed behind, confused by all the odd behaviors she had witnessed today.


End file.
